betray:be unfaithful; reveal unconsciously or unwillinglyE.g.The two spies betray their country by selling military secrets to the enemy.

betroth:become engaged to marry; promise to marryE.g.The announcement that they would betroth surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance.

bevy:large group; a group of animals or birds, especially larks or quailE.g.The movie actor was surrounded by a bevy of starlets.

bicameral:composed of or based on two legislative chambers or branchesE.g.The United States Congress is a bicameral body.

bicker:engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrelE.g.The children bicker morning, noon, and night, exasperating their parents.

bid:make an offer of; propose; offer in words; declare, as a wish, a greeting, a threat, or defianceE.g."Then you and I must bid good-bye for a little while?" "I suppose so, sir."

biennial:every two years; lasting or living for two yearsE.g.Seeing no need to meet more frequently, the group held biennial meetings instead of annual ones.

bigot:hypocrite, especially, superstitious hypocrite; one who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politicsE.g.And it appears that in many cases, being a hateful bigot is a boost to your chances of being elected.

bigotry:stubborn intolerance; excessive zeal or warmth in favor of a party, sect, or opinionE.g.Brought up in a democratic atmosphere, the student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.

billowing:swelling out in waves; surging; stormy; affected by stormsE.g.Standing over the air vent, Marilyn Monroe tried vainly to control her billowing skirts.

bivouac:temporary encampment; a site where people on holiday can pitch tentE.g.While in bivouac, we spent the night in our sleeping bags under the stars.

bizarre:fantastic; violently contrasting; strangely unconventional in style or appearanceE.g.The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed.

blanch:cause to turn white or become pale; take color from; bleachE.g.Although age can blanch his hair, he is still vigorous and energetic.

bland:lacking stimulating or mild; agreeableE.g.She kept her gaze level and her expression bland, but her teeth were gritted.

blandishment:flattery; speech or action expressive of affection or kindness, and tending to win the heartE.g.Despite the salesperson's blandishment, the customer did not buy the outfit.

blare:loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of lightE.g.Then there was a louder blare from the organ, and everyone in the church stood up and faced backward.

blasphemy:act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God; utterance or writing concerning God or a sacred entityE.g.By our very nature, every single one of us believes in blasphemy.

blatant:flagrant; conspicuously obvious; loudly offensiveE.g.To the unemployed youth from Dublin, the "No Irish Need Apply" placard in the shop window was a blatant mark of prejudice.

bleak:cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorableE.g.The frigid, inhospitable Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts.

blemish:mark with deformity; injure or impair, as anything which is excellent; make defective, either the body or mindE.g.A newspaper article alleging he had taken bribes may blemish his reputation.

blight:blast; prevent the growth and fertility of; destroy the happiness of; ruin; frustrateE.g.I wish to foster, not to blight -- to earn gratitude, not to wring tears of blood -- no, nor of brine: my harvest must be in smiles, in endearments, in sweet -- That will do.

blighted:suffering from a disease; destroyed, ruined, or spoiledE.g.The extent of the blighted areas could be seen only when viewed from the air.

bloated:swollen or puffed as with water or airE.g.Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.

bludgeon:short heavy club, usually of wood; heavy-headed weaponE.g.Attacked by Dr. Moriarty, Holmes used his walking stick as a bludgeon to defend himself.

blues:gloom; depressed spiritsE.g.He had a bad case of the blues.

bluff:pretense of strength; mislead or deceiveE.g.If only, I thought, he had called our bluff from the start and told us firmly that he knew the figures but wouldn't say.

blunder:serious mistake typically caused by ignorance or confusionE.g.The criminal's fatal blunder led to his capture.

blunt:having a dull edge or end; not sharp; lacking in feeling; insensitiveE.g.Public employee unions are demanding in blunt terms that Democrats make the tax code more progressive.

blurt:utter suddenly and impulsivelyE.g.Before she can stop you, you should blurt out the news.

blush:become rosy or reddish; turn red, as if in embarrassment or shameE.g.We all saw the girl blush when a young man whistled as she walked by.

bode:foreshadow; indicate by signs; be an omen of; predictE.g.The gloomy skies and the odors from the mineral springs seemed to bode evil to those who settled in the area.

bogus:counterfeit or fake; not authentic; not genuineE.g.The police quickly found the distributors of the bogus twenty-dollar bills.

bohemian:unconventional in an artistic wayE.g.Gertrude Stein ran off to Paris to live an eccentric, bohemian life with her writer friends.

boisterous:rough and stormy; loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or disciplineE.g.The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them.

bolster:support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushionE.g.The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments.

bolt:dash or dart off; move or jump suddenlyE.g.Jack was set to bolt out the front door.

bombardment:attack with missiles; continuous attack with shot and shell upon a town, fort, or other positionE.g.The enemy bombardment demolished the town.

bombastic:pompous; using inflated language; high-sounding but with little meaningE.g.The biggest military power on Earth was acting belligerent and its president was indulging in bombastic nationalistic grandstanding.

boon:blessing; benefit bestowed, especially in response to a requestE.g.The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.

boorish:rude and clumsy in behavior; ungentlemanly; awkward in mannersE.g.Natasha was embarrassed by her fellow spy's boorish behavior.

boost:raise; advance; push or shove upwardE.g.It shows political parties could boost their share of the vote considerably.

bountiful:abundant; graciously generous; giving freely and generouslyE.g.Thanks to the good harvest, we had a bountiful supply of food.

bourgeois:middle class; selfishly materialistic; dully conventionalE.g.Technically, anyone who belongs to the middle class is bourgeois, but, most people resent it if you call them that.

bout:contest between antagonists; contest or fight; a period of time spent in a particular way, as in illnessE.g.She's still recovering from a bout of flu.

bovine:dull, slow-moving, and stolid, like an ox; placid and dullE.g.Nothing excites Esther; even when she won the state lottery, she still preserved her air of bovine calm.

bowdlerize:edit by omitting or modifying parts considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemlyE.g.After the film editors finished to bowdlerize the language in the script, the motion picture's rating was changed from "R" to "PG.".

braggart:boaster; one given to loud, empty boasting; very talkative personE.g.Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves.

braid:weave; interweave three or more strandsE.g.Have you ever wanted to braid your own hair or someone else's hair?

brand:burning piece of wood; mark made by burning with a hot iron; distinctive mark upon in any wayE.g.He has his own brand of humor and always brings laugh for us.

brandish:move or wave, as a weapon; raise and move in various directionsE.g.Doctor Watson began to wildly brandish his gun until Holmes told him to put the thing away before he shot himself.

bravado:defiant or swaggering behavior; pretense of courage; false show of braveryE.g.The bravado of the young criminal disappeared when he was confronted by the victims of his brutal attack.

brawl:fight; noisy quarrel or fight; loud partyE.g.Last week, two local men were killed in a brawl.

brawn:solid and well-developed muscles, especially of the arms and legsE.g.People think in farming community you don't need a brain, only brawn.

brazen:having loud, usually harsh, resonant sound; shamelessE.g.His entire premiership has become an exercise in brazen dishonesty.

breach:breaking of contract or dutyE.g.Jill sued Jack for breach of promise, claiming he had broken his promise to marry her.

breadth:measure or dimension from side to side; width; extentE.g.We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge.

breed:raise; produce offspring; give birth to or hatch; mateE.g.In a fast neutron reactor, this process is optimized so that it can breed fuel, often using a depleted uranium blanket around the core.

brevity:quality or state of being brief in duration; concise expressionE.g.Brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.

brim:brink; edgeE.g.She shut her book and slowly looked up; her hat brim partially shaded her face, yet I could see, as she raised it, that it was a strange one.

brindled:of brownish, tawny colour, with streaks, spots, or patternsE.g.He was disappointed in the litter because the puppies were brindled, he had hoped for animals of a uniform color.

brink:edge, margin, or border of a steep place vergeE.g.Beyond the verge of provocation I never ventured; on the extreme brink I liked well to try my skill.

brisk:marked by speed, liveliness, and vigor; energetic; swift; keen or sharp in speech or mannerE.g."Come in!" called a brisk, familiar voice, as Ronny knocked lightly on the almost closed door.

brittle:easily broken; having little elasticityE.g.My employer's self-control was as brittle as an egg-shell.

broach:introduce; bring up for discussion or debate; announceE.g.Jack did not even try to broach the subject of religion with his in-laws.

brochure:pamphlet; small book usually having paper coverE.g.This brochure on farming was issued by the Department of Agriculture.

broil:cook by direct exposure to heat over fire; subject to great heat; be subjected to the action of heat; be greatly heatedE.g.I have to broil in this hot sun to get them back!

brooch:ornamental clasp; decorative pin worn by womenE.g.The brooch was a gift from Burton and she wore it when she wed him.

brood:think long and anxiously; be in a state of gloomy, serious thoughtE.g.It's no use to brood over one's past mistakes.

brook:creek; streamE.g.At the bottom of the hill ran a little brook, and on the opposite side of it was a bank.

browbeat:bully; intimidate; discourage or frighten with threatsE.g.Billy resisted Ted's attempts to browbeat him handing over his lunch money.

browse:graze; skim or glance at casuallyE.g."How now, brown cow, browsing in the green, green grass." I remember lines of verse that I came across while I browse through the poetry section of bookstore.

bruise:injure, as by a blow or collision; contuse; fight with the fistsE.g.She fell, but did not bruise her knee in such a soft land.

brunt:main impact or shock; main burdenE.g.Tom Sawyer claimed credit for painting the fence, but the brunt of the work fell on others.

brusque:abrupt and curt in manner or speech; rudely abrupt, unfriendlyE.g.Was Bruce too brusque when he brushed off Bob's request with a curt "Not now!"?

buccaneer:pirate; robber upon the seaE.g.At Disneyland a pirate of the Caribbean sings a song about his live as bloody buccaneer.

bucolic:rustic; pastoral; agricultural; relating to country affairs, or to shepherd's life and occupationE.g.Filled with browsing cows and bleating sheep, the meadow was a charmingly bucolic sight.

buffoon:one who makes a practice of amusing others by low tricks, antic gestures; droll; mimic; clownE.g.This buffoon is the most self-centered idiot I have ever seen or heard.

bulge:cause to curve outward; swell up; stick out; protrudeE.g.When the inserted balloon is filled with water, they bulge out in a variety of shapes.

bulk:majority; main part; volume; massE.g.Canada's largest bulk food retailer, it has more than 112 stores.

bullion:gold and silver in the form of barsE.g.Much bullion is stored in the vaults at Fort Knox.

bully:noisy, blustering fellow; one who is threatening and quarrelsome; insolent, tyrannical fellowE.g.I found early in life that the best way to defeat a bully is a punch to the nose.

bulwark:earthwork or other strong defense; person who defendsE.g.The navy is our principal bulwark against invasion.

bump:impact as from a collision; lump on the body caused by a blowE.g.Have you ever found a small lump or a bump on your body?

bungle:mismanage; blunder; work or act in clumsy, awkward, or blundering mannerE.g.Don't botch this assignment; if you bungle the job, you're fired!.

buoyant:able to float; cheerful and optimisticE.g.When the boat capsized, her buoyant life jacket kept Jody afloat.

bureaucracy:over-regulated administrative systemE.g.The Internal Revenue Service is the ultimate bureaucracy; taxpayers wasted so much paper filling out IRS forms to comply with the Paper-work Reduction Act.

burgeon:grow forth; send out buds; grow or develop rapidlyE.g.In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty to come.

burnish:make shiny by rubbing; polishE.g.I burnish the brass fixtures until they reflect the lamplight.

buttress:support physically; prop up; support something or someone by supplying evidenceE.g.The attorney came up with several far-fetched arguments in a vain attempt to buttress his weak case.

buxom:healthily plump and ample of figure; full-bosomed; vigorous; jollyE.g.A generation ago, fat babies were considered healthy and buxom actresses were popular, but society has since come to worship thinness.

cabal:small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interestsE.g.The number of Republicans who support this man and his cabal is astonishing, but nothing will change the minds of that percentage.

cache:hiding place; secret store of valuables or moneyE.g.The detectives followed the suspect until he led them to the cache where he had stored his loot.

cacophonous:discordant; inharmonious; sounding harshly; ill-soundingE.g.Do the students in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they're tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket.

cadaver:corpse; dead body, especially one intended for dissectionE.g.In some states, it is illegal to dissect cadaver.

cadaverous:like corpse; pale; Having appearance or color of dead human bodyE.g.By his cadaverous appearance, we could see how the disease had ravaged him.

cadence:rhythmic rise and fall of words or sounds; beatE.g.Marching down the road, the troops sang out, following the cadence set by the sergeant.

cadet:younger of two brothers; student at a military school who is training to be an officerE.g.A cadet should understand that the war he or she joins four or five years from now will be a different war altogether.

cajole:influence or urge by gentle urging or flatteringE.g.Diane tried to cajole her father into letting her drive the family car.

calamity:event that brings terrible loss, lasting distress, or severe affliction; disaster; miseryE.g.As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community.

calculated:deliberately planned; carefully thought out in advanceE.g.Her conventional suit was one calculated to appeal to the conservative judges.

caliber:ability; degree or grade of excellence or worth; diameter of tube or gun barrelE.g.Einstein's cleaning the blackboards again? Albert, quit it! A man of your caliber shouldn't have to do such tasks.

calligraphy:beautiful writing; excellent penmanshipE.g.As we examine ancient manuscripts, we become impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes.

callous:emotionally hardened; unfeeling; toughenedE.g.He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards.

callow:youthful; immature; inexperienced; without feathersE.g.As a freshman, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sophomore, he made fun of freshmen as callow youths.

calorific:capable of producing heat; causing heat; heatingE.g.Coal is much more calorific than green wood.

calumny:false statement maliciously made to injure another's reputation; slanderE.g.He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him.

camaraderie:good-fellowship; companionship; close friendship in friends or teammatesE.g.What he loved best about his job was the sense of camaraderie he and his coworkers shared.

candor:frankness; quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speechE.g.Jack can carry candor too far: when he told Jill his honest opinion of her, she nearly slapped his face.

canine:related to dogs; dog-like; affecting or derived from dogsE.g.They will then incubate the viruses in canine tissue cells to see how well they grow.

canker:corroding or sloughing ulcer; anything which corrodes, corrupts, or destroy; disease incident to trees, causing the bark to rot and fall offE.g.Drug addiction is a dangerous canker in society.

canny:having pleasing or useful qualities; gentle; knowing; cautious; cunning; shrewdE.g.The first and most immediate of these is a certain canny captain of many wars whose regiment is still at the disposal of either army.

cant:inclination or slope; slanted or oblique surface; jargon, especially of thieves; dialectE.g.I strayed from my own voice and slipped into jargon, cant, or false sentiment.

cantankerous:ill humored; irritable; marked by ill-tempered contradiction or opposition; ugly; maliciousE.g.Constantly complaining about his treatment and refusing to cooperate with the hospital staff, he was a cantankerous patient.

cantata:story or poem set to music that can be sung by chorusE.g.The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader.

canter:slow gallop; moderate running pace of horseE.g.Because the racehorse had outdistanced its competition so easily, the reporter wrote that the race was won in a canter.

canto:part or division of poem of some lengthE.g.This is the first canto of Dante's poetic masterpiece The Divine Comedy.

canvass:determine votes; examine carefully or discuss thoroughly; scrutinizeE.g.After volunteers helped canvass the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district.

capacious:capable of containing a large quantity; spacious or roomyE.g.In the capacious rotunda of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.

capacity:mental or physical ability; ability to accommodateE.g.Mike had the capacity to handle several jobs at once.

capillary:long and slender with a very small internal diameterE.g.It passed from a capillary tube.

capitulate:surrender; end all resistance; give up; go along with or complyE.g.The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation.

caprice:sudden, unexpected fancy; impulsive change of mindE.g.Some revolutions may have originated in caprice, or generated in ambition.

captious:intended to confuse in an argumentE.g.I resent the way he asked that was captious question.

carapace:hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtlesE.g.The top shell is the carapace while the bottom is called the plastron.

cardinal:chief; serving as an essential componentE.g.If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read.

cardiologist:doctor who specializes in medical problems related to heartE.g.When the physician noticed Philip had a slight heart murmur, she referred him to a cardiologist for further tests.

careen:lean to one side, as a ship under press of sail; sway from side to sideE.g.He saw the taxicab careen wildly as it rounded the corner.

career:profession or occupation; individual’s work and life roles over their lifespanE.g.The Italian Prime Minister and media tycoon Sylvia Berlusconi bought AC Milan in 1986 and the team's fortunes have mirrored his colorful career in politics.

caricature:representation that is deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic effectE.g.The caricature he drew yesterday emphasized a personal weakness of the people he burlesqued.

carnage:destruction of life; savage and excessive killing of many peopleE.g.The film The Killing Fields vividly depicts the carnage wreaked by Pol Pot's followers in Cambodia.

carnal:fleshly; of or relating to body or flesh; bodilyE.g.This wasn't about love, this was about raw animal attraction, about kindred spirits in carnal lust.

carnivorous:eating or feeding on flesh; predatoryE.g.The lion's a carnivorous beast. A hunk of meat makes up his feast.

carping:fault-finding; excessive complaining; of unreasonable criticism or censureE.g.A carping critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws.

cartographer:one who makes maps or chartsE.g.Though not a professional cartographer, Tolkien was able to construct a map of his fictional world.

cascade:small waterfall; sudden downpourE.g.We were too tired to appreciate the beauty of this cascade because we had to detour around it to avoid watering down.

caste:any of the hereditary social classes and subclasses of South Asian societiesE.g.The caste refers to social system based on rigid distinctions of birth, rank, and wealth.

casualty:serious or fatal accident; someone injured or killed in an accidentE.g.On holiday weekends this city usually has at least one automotive casualty.

cataclysm:an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; deluge or overflowing of waterE.g.A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries.

catalyst:agent which brings about chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchangedE.g.Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.

catapult:slingshot; hurling machine; military machine for hurling missiles, used in ancient and medieval timesE.g.The airplane is launched from battleship by catapult.

cataract:large or high waterfall; eye abnormalityE.g.She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls.

catastrophe:calamity; disaster; state of extreme ruin and misfortuneE.g.The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a catastrophe that destroyed most of the city.

catcall:shout of disapproval; shout or whistle expressing dislike, especially from crowd or audienceE.g.Every major league pitcher has off days during which he must learn to ignore any catcall and angry hiss from the crowd.

catechism:book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answerE.g.He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer.

categorical:absolute; having no exception; of using category or categoriesE.g.Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally had to qualify his categorical denial: he was "hardly ever" sick at sea.

cater:supply what is needed or desired; provide food professionally for special occasionE.g.The chef was happy to cater to the tastes of his highly sophisticated clientele.

catharsis:purging or cleansing of any passage of bodyE.g.Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts.

catholic:broadly sympathetic; universal; related to Roman Catholic ChurchE.g.He was extremely catholic in his taste and read everything he could find in the library.

caucus:private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policyE.g.At the opening of Congress, the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the Majority Leader of the House and the Party Whip.

causal:implying cause-and-effect relationshipE.g.The psychologist maintained there was a causal relationship between the nature of one's early childhood experiences and one's adult personality.

caustic:capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical actionE.g.The critic's caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm.

cavalcade:ceremonial procession or display; succession or seriesE.g.As described by Chaucer, the cavalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was a motley group.

cavalier:offhand or casual; given to haughty disregard of othersE.g.The disguised prince resented the cavalier way in which the palace guards treated him. How dared they handle a member of the royal family so unceremoniously!

cavil:criticise for petty or frivolous reasons; raise trivial objectionsE.g.It's fine when you make sensible criticisms, but it really bugs me when you cavil about unimportant details.

cede:yield or formally resign and surrender to anotherE.g.Eventually the descendants of England's Henry II were forced to cede their French territories to the King of France.

celerity:swiftness of action or motion; speedE.g.Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarrying within a month after his father's death.

celestial:relating to the sky or the heavens; supremely good; god or angelE.g.She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited virtuous souls in the hereafter.

cemetery:place or ground set apart for the burial of the dead; graveyardE.g.A vehicle for conveying a coffin is to a church or cemetery.

censor:overseer of morals; official responsible for removal of objectionable or sensitive contentE.g.Soldiers dislike having their mail read by a censor but understand the need for this precaution.

censorious:critical; addicted to censure; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners; implying or expressing censureE.g.But it is childish to waste our time in censorious judgment on the individual who does no worse than represent a ruling type.

censure:expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism; blameE.g.Today's paper will censure the senator for behavior inappropriate to a member of Congress.

centigrade:measure of temperature, used widely in EuropeE.g.On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees.

ceremonious:marked by formality; strictly observant of or devoted to ceremony or ritualE.g.Ordinary dress would be inappropriate at so ceremonious an affair.

certitude:state of being certain; complete assurance; confidenceE.g.Though there was no certitude of his getting the job, Lou thought he had a good chance of doing so.

cessation:bringing or coming to end; ceasingE.g.The airline's employees threatened a cessation of all work if management failed to meet their demands.

cession:yielding to another; ceding or surrenderingE.g.The cession of Alaska to the United States is discussed in this chapter.

chafe:wear away or irritate by rubbing; make sore by rubbing; annoy; vexE.g.The high collar used to chafe against my neck.

chaff:trivial or worthless matter; thin dry bracts or scales, especiallyE.g.When you separate the wheat from the chaff, be sure you keep the wheat.

chaffing:joking; use of light, frivolous language by way of fun or ridiculeE.g.Chad's worthless remarks annoy us.; Chad's chaffing keeps us laughing.

chagrin:anxiety caused by humiliation or injured pride; disappointmentE.g.Embarrassed by his parents' shabby, working-class appearance, Doug felt their visit to his school would bring him nothing but chagrin.

chalice:goblet; bowl-shaped drinking vessel; large drinking cup, often having stem and baseE.g.In a small room adjoining the cathedral, visitors can see this ornately decorated chalice made by famous European goldsmith.

chameleon:lizard that changes color in different situationsE.g.Like the chameleon, he assumed the political thinking of every group he met.

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